Neuron insulation

What the world needs is a big filter. One running between the neurons firing in a person's brain and his or her mouth. There has to be a way to stop said electrical activity from always creeping down the brain stem and escaping through the tongue. Where's a good insulator when you need it?

I've noticed a lot of the sensational news stories today are due to this insulator being missing  - whether it's from the person reporting on the story or one of the subjects in it. The latest one I've seen is MSNBC analyst Mark Halpering calling our president a d***. Yes, the nickname for Richard, or more accurately, the euphemism for a male's member. Admittedly, I am not a fan of the president. However, I do view any person who attempts that job with a modicum of respect. Potty mouth does not apply - ever. Anyone who attempts to bear the burdens of that job upon his or her shoulders will not become the subject of trash talk in my conversations. I certainly do not want that job.

I have been known to decommission my filter and fly off the handle with the best (worst?) of them. Certain people have found the buttons I have labored a lifetime to hide, digging with abandon. In the end, nothing gets accomplished for the pusher or the pushed. Nothing is resolved, nothing moves forward, nothing moves into constructive debate. In this context, buttons polarize.The only thing that buttons seem to activate is highly sensitized emotions. Emotion is essential in story telling. But I find debate for the purpose of exchanging ideas is better off without highly-charged emotions. Personally, emotion tends to blind me to reason.

When it comes to marketing, buttons play a different role. Effective marketing requires you connect the audience's emotions with the action you want them to take. Marketers who can't find the buttons won't be able to provoke the desired action, feeling, or response. Five minutes ago I watched a commercial for Worldwide Liquidators. What I remember is "Going, going, gone!" They're pushing my "Don't miss out!" button. I'm not sure what I'm missing out on, but it made me want to know badly enough that I visited their website. In this case, being blinded to reason works to the marketer's advantage.